Wheat prices have risen by nearly 70 percent since June
after Russia suffered its worst drought in 130 years and are at their highest
since 2008, when the last major food price rally sparked protests and riots in
a string of emerging nations.
Analysts warn that if prices stay high then the threat of
street violence will increase - at least up to a point.
"We could see some street riots but I wouldn't
expect any governments to fall," said Jonathan Wood, global issues analyst
for consultancy Control Risks.
"On one level, we have much less of a problem than
in 2008 because we have better food stocks. On the other hand, because of the
financial crisis many countries are not in such a good position financially to
deal with it."
Particularly in emerging markets where food makes up a
higher proportion of household purchases, the price rise could filter through
in inflation, rate hikes and wider deficits.
The Middle East and North Africa, particularly Egypt, are
regarded as particularly vulnerable, as are emerging and southern European
countries where discontent has already been fueled by harsh cuts in public
spending, benefits and pay.
"Grain imports are particularly sensitive in the
Middle East and North Africa - bread is such a crucial staple of the
diet," said Metsa Rahimi, analyst at security consultant Janusian.
"Eastern Europe is also an obvious area of risk."
Europe has seen less social unrest than many expected
from the financial crisis - although riots in Greece in May unsettled global
markets - but risks are expected to rise in the autumn as unions call strikes
and spending cuts bite.
Central and Eastern Europe have pushed through tough
measures to qualify for IMF and European Union aid, but analysts see patience
running thin, particularly in Romania. Spain, Italy, France and the Baltic
states are also being closely watched.
Much will depend on how long the price increase lasts and
to what extent it filters through other commodities and foodstuffs.
That could swiftly bring angry mobs on the streets
particularly in relatively poor authoritarian countries where maintaining food
supply is seen as key to government legitimacy, they analysts said.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was swift to impose
an export ban, with the Kremlin likely to be keen to keep its silos full
especially in the event of more damage to its winter crop.
"Adequate grain supplies have long been associated
with social stability in Russia," wrote security consultancy Stratfor.
"
Stratfor believes Russia may use the crisis to pull
together nearby producers Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine to form a regional
grain cartel.
"Moscow very publicly has used energy supplies as a
political weapon, either by raising prices or cutting supplies," it said
in a note. "Grain exports fall very easily into Moscow's box of economic
tools."
Several key importers of Russian wheat including Turkey
and Jordan have been swift to say they have enough stocks and there will be no
immediate impact on ordinary people. But they are nervous.
"The risks are always greatest where there are large
numbers of urban poor and where food makes up more than 60 percent of the
consumer purchase index basket," said Alastair Newton, political analyst
at Nomura.
"My top pick for potential trouble would be Egypt
where tensions are already high with elections coming up and concerns about
succession. Egypt has a long history of food price riots - but my guess is the
main impact will be on the deficit as the cost of subsidies go up."
Food prices and subsidies have always been notoriously
political in Egypt, which faces elections next year with little clarity on
whether 82-year-old President Hosni Mubarak - in power for almost three decades
- will stand again.
There have been occasional scuffles at Ramadan food
handouts in recent weeks and grumbling over raised pre-Ramadan prices but no
repeat of the widespread protests seen in 2008.
The government met those first with a security clampdown
then with the promise of higher wages.
Other countries being particularly closely watched for
signs of unrest include Algeria, drought-hit Syria and already unstable Yemen.
In contrast, there is seen less immediate impact on
Africa, in part because of stronger other staple crops particularly maize in
the continent's south. Nigerian food price rises have also slowed because of
good local crops.
Even in West Africa's Sahel - scene of a pre-existing
food crisis - aid agencies say the Russian grain crisis and global price surge
has had little local impact as yet.
But rising global prices could still put pressure on some
recent land deals for food production in which Middle Eastern and Asian nations
have bought up tracts of land in Africa and elsewhere including Ukraine and
Pakistan for food. Hungry local populations might not like seeing food being
trucked abroad.
The only major change of government linked to the last
food spike was the 2009 coup in Madagascar, in which popular desire to overturn
a South Korean land purchase was seen as a key factor.
Insurer Zurich believes food-related unrest worries will
prompt more investors to seek protection against political violence damage and
expropriation. That could push up premiums and the cost of foreign direct
investment in affected markets.
"We would expect to see increased demand for our
political risk products as a result of this," said Dan Riordan, Zurich
president for specialty products.
